At Home Christmas Eve

In the reenactment of the nativity, the angel scares the shepherds.

JB and Gloria dressed up as shepherds

Quality Time with the Uncles

Justin ("JB") and Max Jr ("JB")

Can you see JB in this picture?

They're not having fun or anything....
Max wore his pajamas and robe almost the whole vacation, so JB and Gloria wanted to also. Actually...I think this is when they are dressed up as Joseph and Mary. Can you guess who Benaiah was in the "play"?

Give a Babe a Bone

Benaiah spent a lot of time chewing on turkey bones. They are good teething tools and he may even get some nutrition from them.

The Bremer boys, parents, wives, and grandchildren

Max, Justin, Grandude, Eli
Tamsey, Allison, Momlady, Cami
Benaiah, JB, Gloria
Kitty and Zephyr (dogs)
Grungy-dog not present

JB and the Birdie

JB looks like he wants to eat the birdie in this picture. The birdie hit and window and was stunned, so Max was able to put in into a box for the kids to look at for a little while. Before letting it go, JB got to hold it. Bye bye birdie!

JB and Uncle Justin's Birthday Party

Just Beautiful Colorado

Gloria scraping the snow.

This is our driveway today. We had a mini blizzard. We were glad not to be driving in this.

Swingin'

It was definitely time to get outside for both mom and kids. It had been pretty cold outside for a while, so this was the first time we got outside to play for about 2 weeks. It was warmish for about three days, then the above happened...(refer to above post)

Buda Benaiah

Benaiah is not crawling yet, but still looks cute in his (almost) birthday suit. He sits really well. JB was a sweet brother and got the pillow to put behind him just in case he falls backwards (which occasionally happens).

Gloria's Quilt

I made this twin-size quilt for Gloria's bed with the help of my friend, Carolyn, who helped a lot with the cutting and piecing part. I made it into a comforter cover so that she could be snugly and warm with it. A friend's grandmother and a friend from church embroidered a verse (Romans 12:2) onto it with a really fancy embroidery machine. The only thing I have to do now is put snaps on the comforter and on the inside of the duvet cover to make the comforter stay in place. Gloria picked out the quilt pattern and of course it was the little girls with "dancing dresses" on. Working on this quilt and finishing it has given me more confidence to do more complicated quilts. This one is rotary cutter, not appliqué. Maybe someday I will try appliqué.

A Buggy and Mommy Ride

This is a pony cart, but it was a good way to transport Gloria up and down the driveway when she really wanted to keep up with JB who was on a big boy bike. She loved it and it was good exercise for me.

Another Christmas Tree from the Woodlot!

JB and Max are serious about their tree-cutting.

Benaiah just thinks it's fun to watch and be on Grandude's shoulders

Family picture, chain saws and all...

Benaiah's first bites

Cute cowgirl

"Pwincess"

Sometimes she is a "Butterfly Pwincess" and other times a "Butterfly Dancing Pwincess".

Love is in the air...

...beautiful fresh fall air. We had a great time out at dinner, then out for ice cream and made sure to come back after the kids (at least the two older ones) were in bed!

Max has the sexy detective look going.

Gramma here means...

Date Night!!!!

Working hard

Max took a temporary break from hunting this long weekend to work on cleaning up the yard. The kids were ecstatic to have him around and to help him on yard work. Max's mom is here until tomorrow because Max has been gone a lot due to work and now hunting, which is a good break for him. Having Gramma Shell here is a great break for me!

Raking Leaves

Gloria and JB are raking leaves on a beautiful fall day. The changing trees are so pretty right now. JB was very motivated because we said that he could earn a quarter by helping rake and bag leaves.

Sporting a hand-made hand-me-down

There's no question that this is a hand-me-down from his older brother. A very cozy one. JB was born in Grand Forks, ND and when Gramma Shell was visiting ND, we went to Cabela's in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. We bought some big Cabela's sweatshirts that were on Clearance and Michele with her sewing talent made a sleeper/cold-weather suit for JB when he was baby-sized. It's 38 degrees here now and supposed to only get up to 51 degrees today, so this will keep Benaiah warm on our errands. Not exactly Grand Forks cold here, but after the warm fall weather we're used to, it kinda feels like it.

Animals and Insects

We could not resist dressing them up. We finally decided to take them trick-or-treating in the immediate neighborhood. It turned out to be a very good way of connecting with the neighbors. Actually, only Max went out with them. I stayed and had fun with my little elephant.

Big ears

JB wore this elephant outfit at about 9 months and it fits Benaiah tighter at 6 months!

Look, I can sit now!

Here's big foot!

zipline fun

We went back to the pumpkin patch and tried out the zipline this time. It was less intimidating without the mud I guess (last time it had rained and was muddy).

JB and Gloria as babies

Gloria as a baby in Jump Up

JB at 2-3 months

I think I know what Benaiah is going to look like in about 3 months. This is JB at 9 months. Benaiah is now 6 months. See the resemblance between brothers?

6-month old Benaiah

He's just starting to sit, although I have to be with him because he might tip over. He only "slithers" backward on his tummy. He can roll over from his tummy to his back but not from his back to his tummy. He kicks his legs a lot and hard! I think he's always checking to see if he'll bounce like he does in his beloved "Benaiah Bounce Up"...otherwise known as Johnny (or Jolly) Jump Up. He loves sucking his thumb.

Beautiful fall day

Our outdoor swing was being put to good use (birthday present from Max to Tams) with Gramma Shell reading to all three grand kids. They sure do love having grandparents around...me, too...since I can watch from the sidelines. I was sick all last week (along with Benaiah) and still getting over the tail end of the nasty cold, so this was a much needed break last weekend!

Max's Birthday

Duncan and Michele came last weekend to surprise Max on the belated celebration of his birthday. Michele made a yummy brownie ice cream layer cake. There were too many candles to count:) and it was too windy to even light the candles. We lit them inside on the remainder of the cake the next day. I think the kids blew out more candles than Max did.